South of the South

Our apartment is amazing. It’s fully renovated - from new carpet to marble-style countertops to two-tone painted textured walls in the dining room. The only thing not upgraded in this apartment, however, is the shower drain. It’s stained. Rusty. Chipped. Disgusting, really.

Today I set out to fix this.

After removing the drain cap, it was clear just how gross this thing was. After unsuccessfully attempting to remove it, it was clear why this was never replaced in our apartment renovation: it’s seemingly impossible.

I went to Lowe’s for a solution, where I came across a tub drain wrench. Such an awesome invention, I thought I’d be done in 5 minutes after returning home.

Not so.

It was now even more clear why this was never removed: the rod in the middle of the drain was too tall for the tub drain wrench to fit over.

I was now faced with an important decision to make: attempt to saw the top of the rod off, so the tub wrench would fit over it. If it didn’t work, my disgusting drain would be stuck in my tub forever. There was a 50/50 chance I’d probably get caught for breaking it upon a move-out inspection, and be liable for an overpriced plumber to fix it properly.

I sawed it off. The tub wrench fit perfectly over it now, and after a minute or so of brute force, the putty cracked and started to turn. 5 minutes later, a new toe-activated drain stop is installed and my apartment is now an obsessive-compulsive’s dream home.

This isn’t about a drain. No, it’s far more than that. It’s about determination. Think of something. Do it. And don’t ever, ever give up.

A 50/50 chance of success becomes 100% failure without attempt.